This past week, Meadowbrook football introduced a new coach. The school hopes Kevin Healy can turn around a proud program that’s fallen on hard times.
Healy, a coaching veteran served as the offensive coordinator for South Lakes High School in Fairfax for four years, and was named the head coach there in 2018. After a move to the Richmond area, Healy got a job teaching at Salem Church Middle School, then applied for the Monarchs position after Chamont Thompson resigned.
“The program has a lot of potential,” said Healy. “It’s certainly in a talent-rich area, and it has really awesome administrative support. That was one of the things that drew me to accept the job here.”
Healy arrives after much change in the program over the past five seasons. After several successful seasons, coach Troy Taylor left to become an assistant at Virginia Union (he’s now the head coach at L.C. Bird) and the school hired Kedrick Moody, who was arrested for assault and subsequently never coached at game at the school. Former Amelia and Colonial Heights coach Adam Tiller took the post and produced solid results, making the playoffs twice. Once Tiller left, L.C. Bird graduate Chamont Thompson coached during the 2018 and 2019 seasons, but failed to produce a win, as the team will come into 2020 riding a 21-game losing streak. The school has been hit hard with players transferring to other schools, as well as a lower than usual turnout.
It’s certainly been tough going for a school that brought home a state championship in 2004 under coach Bill Bowles, but Healy is taking the challenge head on.
“We have to change the mentality in the program,” Healy said. “It’s not physical or strategic, we have to reset the expectation to compete and we have to put the past behind us. The reality is that we are 0-0 right now.”
There may be a notable demographic change from Fairfax to the Meadowbrook district, but Healy’s time teaching at Salem Church has allowed him to get to know the kids and the area.
“We have a lot of kids that are looking for something to hold on to, and some kids that are looking for some structure. We can provide that,” said Healy.
Even though it’s January, there’s already a countdown to the new season at Mack D. Moore Stadium, where a new era has been ushered in.
